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Jacquelin

Hi! Welcome to my blog! My name is Jacquelin and I am from Victoria, BC on sunny Vancouver Island. I am a mom, wife, doula and love all things crafty. I started this journey in 2012 - my year of transformation (the start of it, anyway!!)- getting healthy and fit and finding a balanced life. I hope you find inspiration and a few laughs here and that you come back and visit my blog again soon!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Or at least a light breeze. I started running again. For realz, as Ben would say. Actual one foot in front of the other, pounding on pavement, wearing tights kinda running. I know - scary!

It's been a while since I last hit the road. I first started running when we moved here from Alberta. I was still in the honeymoon phase of loving the rainy ( not snowy) winter and figured, why not start running? It helped that I was a stay at home mom to four kids 7 and under and knew almost no one. It was a social thing. A prevent me from becoming a sociopath thing. So I started running by joining a TC10K clinic.

I discovered I kinda liked the whole running thing. I liked how it made me feel, how I could just think, and run and ache and no one bugged me. I loved how, well, FREE I felt. It was fun.

So I kept running for about 2 years, until my running partners got pregnant and had kids of their own, and I started working outside the home and we somehow all got busy and stopped running. But I secretly missed it - even as my weight ballooned and the thought of putting on my shoes and hitting the trails seemed like a distant memory.

I am running again. It's harder this time - I am 8 years older, heavier, and I have a bit of an attitude ( I know - hard to believe, right???!!!) In my head, I am a runner - my body begs to differ.

I am pretty sure there is nothing quite so unattractive as an, ahem - "woman of substance" in running tights looking like she is trying to catch up with the ice cream truck that left her behind. Hair wet with sweat ( like a rainstorm that hit only me), red faced and probably about to have a heart attack ( I'm not, really, I am just fine!), jiggling and bouncing along ( yes, I spent the money on a big girl bra - Oprah was right - it was worth every penny) I am not as graceful, or as pretty or as powerful as most of the runners out there. And frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

When I hit the trail for the first time in a very long time, it felt, well, pretty great. I remembered that sense of freedom and play and joy, and even though my muscles screamed in agony with pretty much every step, I remembered why I liked it. And even when I got home and later in the day could hardly move from the agony of using muscles that hadn't been used in that way for a long time, I still remembered why I like it. My hips hurt, my knees ached, my quads complained - a lot. But it wasn't as bad as when I started before. My fitness has improved - I don't huff and puff as much as I did just a few months ago, and I am recovering pretty quickly - my muscles must be remembering, too. That is a good thing, because I have a feeling they are about to get quite a workout over the next few months.

I will definitely have a 10K in my future, and I am even looking down the road at, dare I say it out loud - a half marathon. Now that is a scary goal. I have wanted to do one for a really long time, but I never until now believed that it may actually be possible. Now I believe. So I guess it is about time I did it. For realz.

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comments:

Awesome!! I have put that same photo up a while ago, cracks me up everytime! Love your "woman of substance" comment. And love that you jumped straight to a 10K, skipping the 5K. I'm still on the 5K thinking the 10K! We'll continue on... loving your journey :)

I too recently put that photo up! What a great post, Jacquelin! You pretty much summed up exactly how I feel about running. It hurts, its hard,but hell...it feels awesome. While I'm still in the early stages, I've noticed a big difference in how well I'm doing; not as much "huffing and puffing" as you call it. A real sense of accomplishment!

You can definately do a half marathon. I dream of doing one some day as well. For now, I'm focusing on the present and just making it to 5/1's without keeling over and taking an ambulance ride!